Going 3D With Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies Was Not A Simple Process

A day before Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies’ Japanese release date, Siliconera caught up with series producer Motohide Eshiro and scenario director Takeshi Yamazaki, who talked about how they thinks of the game’s plot twists first, followed by the rest. In another interview with Game Watch, the two discuss transitioning from 2D models to 3D, and how it wasn’t as simple as they had expected.

Game Watch states their belief that one of the biggest perks of shifting to 3D graphics is the ease of modifying character models, whereas hand-drawn 2D sprites require a lot more work whenever any modifications are needed. They ask the developers to share a little insight in that area.

“Yes, in addition to being able to go backwards in the work process, it’s also easier to change motions and angles now,” scenario director Takeshi Yamazaki replies. This allows the director of the project to further focus on the camerawork and opens up a wider range of creative possibilities with how you present a scene.

“I believe the creative side has widened with questions such as, ‘How can we effectively show the directed ideas and patterns?’” replies producer Motohide Eshiro. “Since going 3D, we have more room; however, the ‘trouble of making it 3D’ was actually very problematic. Simply taking the original 2D screen’s perspectives and camera angles and tossing in 3D models ended up making it appear completely different.”

“That’s where the person in charge of the modeling devised various models according to different situations.”

Court scene (left) and adventure scene (right) models.

Court scene (left) and adventure scene (right) models.

“When you used Phoenix Wright’s models for court in the adventure parts [of the game], the sense of inconsistency was too great,” Eshiro explains. “That resulted in camera angle changes leading to something that looked strange. For such occasions, we switched parts of the model. That way, the 3D models appeared natural in any scene.”

One of the biggest parts of the game that has been greatly enhanced by the new 3D models is Phoenix’s famous pose (pictured above). According to the developers, they wanted to upgrade the intensity of it, and were able to do it by adjusting the perspective of the pose, making the hand appear much larger when seen in 3D.

“Without making it larger, it ended up looking like a very bitter pose, which lacked intensity,” Yamazaki says with a laugh. “So, before the finger pointing hits, we’ve used a regular court-purpose model, then the moment he sharply points, it switches to a specific model that serves the single purpose of the pose with large hands.”

Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies will be released this fall in the west on Nintendo 3DS.

Looking at these photos before reading the story… all I could think was, “Wow, Feenie… you didn’t need the surgery…”

My LE is going through customs in LA right now… I want my figuuuuure!

fireguardiancoty

But more importantly, will there be a physical release?

abcdeee

Doubt it.Christian Svenson or whatever his name is, pretty much gave with trying with capcom.

Ferofax

You mean gave up?

Because he was recently fired from (or parted ways with, whichever you prefer) Capcom.

Barrylocke89

I like how the Adventure Model defaults to him smiling and looking more relaxed, while the court model defaults to him looking more tense and determined.

Ridho Siregar

Agh why must they show this.. *-*

Anonymous

How exactly does the squashed nose make Nick look more natural outside the courtroom? Perhaps this is one of those things you have to see in action to understand.

Arrei

Probably to do with the camera angles. In the court, you mostly see Phoenix from that specific side angle, and from there court Phoenix looks natural while adventure Phoenix has a smashed nose. The adventure segments would mostly look at his face from the front, and from there court Phoenix has a unusually ruggedly-sculpted jaw that wasn’t noticeable from the side, while adventure Phoenix looks more like he usually does and his nose loses that crushed appearance.

Göran Isacson

Heh, that is a pretty neat and unexpected feature- having separate models for separate occasions, one intended to make Phoenix look better when viewed from the front, one intended to make him look better when seen in the court-room profile. The things one learns when going from 3D to 2D!

AuraGuyChris

Eww, his left hand grows abnormally big.

PreyMantis

It’s called perception. Try this: make someone point their finger towards your face. Their hand looks exceptionally the same size or bigger than their head depending on how close their hand is to your eyes.

AuraGuyChris

Seems everyone mistook the joke I did.
Or I simply forgot to add, “Just kidding.”

Laer_HeiSeiRyuu

Day one purchase

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